PDA
"So, how was Hogsmeade?" Rose asked Allie Longbottom that evening at dinner.
"Oh, you know," she said evasively, grinning slyly.
"No, and now that I think about it, I don't think I want to," Rose wrinkled her nose.
Allie was Albus' girlfriend, and they had a reputation for obscene displays of affection in public. Rose found their entire relationship akin to some sort of grotesque performance art. She herself was not opposed to the occasional kiss in public, but she liked to think that her PDA with Scorpius was practically nonexistent, if not subtle.
Besides, at this point they had much more fun with smirks across the table while sharing an inside joke, private smiles, and goofy faces when they made eye contact across a room. They were developing a language that was entirely untranslatable into words, a special vocabulary of gestures and glances and increasingly deep kisses that was growing richer, more intense, and more complex by the day. She liked to think that they didn't even need words sometimes. They were so attuned to each other after years of friendship that she could often glance at him and know exactly what he was thinking and feeling.
Glancing around, Allie leaned in and smirked, "Well I'll tell you about it anyway. Though Albus and I may or may not have spent most of it snogging," she admitted with a wink.
"Ugh, gross! That's my cousin you're talking about, you know." She pointed out, leaning away from her and wrinkling her nose again.
Allie laughed at Rose's reaction. "I'll spare you the more salacious details then," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"I don't need them, I've seen enough of you two to fill in the blanks with plenty of disturbing images," Rose remarked dryly. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"No problem," Allie said brightly. "So how about you? Did you get a lot of studying done?"
"More or less," She muttered, distracted as Albus and Scorpius joined them across the table.
She wasn't about to admit to Allie and Albus that she and Scorpius achieved very little progress learning the blushing charm but that Scor had easily achieved the desired results, non-magically. She looked at her boyfriend appraisingly, re-living their afternoon.
"Can you two give it a rest? I'm trying to enjoy my food, not be permanently scarred for life." Albus complained.
"What are you talking about?" Rose questioned, snapping her eyes away from the blonde and towards her cousin.
"He means that you're practically undressing Scor with your eyes," Allie laughed and Albus groaned. Rose retracted, as if Allie had hit her with a stunning spell.
Words failed her, even though there were a thousand of them jostling for position on her tongue. They wouldn't arrange themselves, so Rose shook her head and inhaled sharply through her nose.
"I ... I was not!" Was all she could manage. She was beyond appalled.
Albus shook his head, incredulous that Rose didn't realize how bad they were. "Oh please, the two of you are about as subtle as a flying Ford Anglia. You're almost as bad as Allie and I are," Albus joked, making Allie laugh even harder than before.
Maybe they weren't as discreet as Rose liked to believe.
"Well I don't mind it," Scorpius smirked and gave her the same look she had been giving him.
Albus let his fork fall on the edge of his plate with a clatter. "Ugh. Officially done eating now." Albus slouched out of his seat, leaving the remaining three laughing over their treacle tart.